Instant anger hits messaging patent

By Barry Fox

ANGRY computer experts believe they can show that the US Patent Office got it wrong last month when it granted Internet company AOL a patent on the popular idea of instant messaging.

AOL’s patent (US 6449344) claims a legal monopoly on a system that lets people who log onto an email network chat with friends who are online at the same time by sending instant text messages. The patent was filed in 1996 by four Israeli inventors at ICQ, a firm since bought by AOL. To invalidate the patent, objectors must prove the idea was known before 1996. …

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